‘Salem’s Lot

‘Salem’s Lot

By Stephen King

 

 

The (a) story follows, varyingly, the residents of a quiet Maine town known as Jerusalem’s Lot. The Lot has a bit of a bloody history, and much of it is centered on the old Marsten home, which lies at the top of a hill overlooking the town. When writer Ben Mears returns to ‘Salem’s Lot after a lifetime of absence, he finds himself coming back to a place unchanged by time and still haunted by its strange past. He in particular is haunted by a grisly memory from the abandoned Marsten house, and even as he shies away from confronting his fears, it seems to call to him from afar.

But as Mears settles in to write his new book, others make themselves at home in ‘Salem’s Lot: others with dark purposes in mind, and an unquenchable thirst. And as darkness descends slowly but certainly onto the residents of ‘Salem’s Lot, Ben and his friends must find a way to escape the repeated cycle of death and destruction which seems to befall the town every few decades.

The (A) story is hard to pinpoint. This was, apparently, King’s second novel published—back in the days when he was strictly a master of horror, and hadn’t yet branched into other avenues of storytelling. So, it is possible King’s main concern was to terrify the wits out of his readers. Although, the story does say a thing or two about the power of faith, as is demonstrated by the disillusioned priest character, Father Callahan—who ultimately comes face to face with the consequences of his doubt. The story also has a lot to say about fear, and how our perceptions of it become warped as we grow from children to adults. An example of this is clearly seen through the characters Matt Burke—a high school English teacher two years away from retirement—and Mark Petrie—an eleven-year-old boy newly moved to ‘Salem’s Lot—and their differing reactions to the horrors going on around them. This, from King’s perspective, creates a valuable contrast between children facing the monster under the bed, and adults facing the nightmare fuel of our own imaginations.

There is also a subtle parallel between the supernatural horror plaguing the town and the horrors of reality. Our main antagonist introduces the unwitting townspeople to a world of bloodlust and animalistic cravings, and yet the residents of ‘Salem’s Lot, from the beginning of the story, are not unfamiliar with the depravities of child-beating, rape, adultery, and other sins of varying degrees. This may, in fact, be the key to their downfall, as much of ‘Salem’s Lot already has one foot in damnation; our villain only has to tempt them the rest of the way over.

Confession time: this is the first Stephen King novel I’ve actually read all the way through. When I was too young I tried to read Dolores Claiborne and was bored out of my mind within seconds of picking it up. When I was a little older I attempted to read The Two Dead Girls (of the Green Mile series), and had it promptly taken away by my mother, who thought I was still too young for the themes typically expressed within Stephen King novels. By now I’ve seen several of his movies and read a couple of his shorts, but ‘Salem’s Lot is my first experience with the master of horror in his prime.

Right off the bat: I’m not scared of vampires. Sunlight makes them burst into flames and you can kill them with a stick. So, as far as King’s reputation for horror goes, this was not a book that chilled me to the bone or made me lose sleep at night. That being said, I can still understand why he’s popular. His work is very character driven, offering readers exclusive peeks into background stories and secret depravities, and the characters meant to catch our eye stick with us throughout the course of the story. I feel for these people, and want them to succeed, but at the same time I do not see them as heroic figures: I see them as ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances, which only further drives my desire for them to win the day. And as for the characters with one foot already in damnation, it’s great to see them get their comeuppance when the time is right.

Sometimes the character work got a bit heavy-handed: the Lot has so many different people to keep track of; I would read a name and have to stop and think for a while on who this was and why I cared (but once I remembered, it went smoothly again). Some of the characters’ histories also seem unnecessary—just added fluff for the sake of inner conflict, but not a conflict that ever comes full circle. Ben, for instance, has a couple traumatic experiences behind him which are referenced occasionally throughout the story, but despite returning to ‘Salem’s Lot to face his demons, he is kept busy with all the outer demons to the point his inner demons seem left untouched.

Although, perhaps, that is a point King wanted to make—that sometimes we can never shake our own personal demons. That they are always with us, in spite of what we may face on the outside. Again, Father Callahan’s struggle with faith comes to mind; even as he sees undeniable proof the power of faith is real, his own doubts continue to hinder him.

The ending of the book is also up for debate with me. I won’t go into too much detail, but with everything that happened in the third act I guess I was expecting a more solid ending, while it’s left somewhat ambiguous. But, again, perhaps King’s hope was to leave us lingering in a world of uncertainty, especially since so many of our characters’ presupposed aspects of reality have been challenged along the way.

While this book was not what I anticipated, it succeeded in bringing me along for the ride and stringing together tension and drama that kept me invested in the characters and their lives. I am curious to pick up another King novel and see what awaits me. In the meantime, ‘Salem’s Lot is a memorable tale likely to, if not keep you up at night jumping at shadows, keep you up at night eagerly turning the pages for more.